35th Anniversary Weekend

Kelly, Teri, Kathryn, Dave, Kristen, Francesca, Ben, Josh and Jason

Started off Saturday morning with our last big training before the Giant Acorn Tri next weekend.  Met the group at Columbia Heights to go do hills through Rock Creek Park.  For whatever reason I was just feeling lethargic.  We did double hills by taking the rolling hills into the park then we normally do 4-5 laps up and down the steeper hill.  Everyone else did 6 but I only managed 3.  Don't know what was up but I just didn't have the stamina.  Very frustrating.  Fortunately the rolling hills out of the park are so gorgeous, it took away the disappointment I had in my less than impressive showing.  Tom rode a long with me as well so that was nice.

 Wrapped up our hill workout with breakfast at Panera where more plans were put in place for next weekend's race and we discussed the fine art of wetsuits, body glide and bike racks.

 Tom and I rode back through the city and over to the Navy Yard where they were holding the DC VegFest.  We did have to stop in front of the Capitol and take our picture since that view just never gets old!

The Navy Yard is just in the shadow of Nats stadium and there were tons of people there!

There were plenty of lines of people waiting to get free samples and swag from all the vendors but the longest line was for this bakery from Bethlehem, Pa called Vegan Treats.  Holy cow!  Look at all the vegan goodness!  We didn't stand in line for anything (people were buying boxes full!) but definitely looked at all the goodies.  We met a girl later who said she'll take orders from friends then make the 3 1/2 hour drive (one way) to pick up things.  They MUST be good!  That would be like us driving to NJ for a sub!

 We did come home with some great swag and recipes though:

After showers and lunch we hit the road to find a bike rack.  We've already returned one we weren't crazy about.  Well, we opted for one from Target but have already decided we don't love it either so the search will continue.  In the meantime we had to go pick up our rental wetsuits AND a bike I am renting for the Tri.  More on that later.

Sunday morning we were at Nats Stadium at 6 AM to help Kristen with her 5K she had organized for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.  Others from the Tri group were there as well.

Tom, Teri, Anne Marie, Kristen, Kelly, Rick, Circe and Holly

 Tom and I had already registered to run before we found out Kristen needed extra help.  I have TOO many friends battling cancer right now.  Lost one last month, some are doing well and others are struggling.  Tucked their sweet names in my shirt and ran with them close to my heart.

 Of course, there was a large colon you could walk thru.......

 Our awesome Tri coach and 5K organizer extraordinairre.....Ms. Kristen Fagley!

So I loved the route for this run!  We ran around one level of the stadium then up the ramps to the top level for another lap then down the ramps and out onto the river walk that runs along the Navy yards then down a couple of blocks before heading back around the outside of Nats stadium......

 In the meantime, Tom has run, stopped to take pictures of our volunteer friends along the route, finished and had his photo taken with V, David, Kristen and Teddy Roosevelt.....

 and still gets back outside to get my photo finish!!!

 It was a lot of fun and a gorgeous day.  We collected more swag, our veggie Subway sandwich and sat overlooking Nats field hoping the World Series will be taking place there next month.

It was also our 35th wedding anniversary so we asked the face paint lady to make us something special......

Wedding Invitation Photo

 Ha ha ha!  We were supposed to go directly to church after the run but decided this was a little over the top (even for us) so we dashed home for showers and to change then manned the Connections Table after church and a great sermon on giving (though we were both so tired we kept getting a little dozy...will have to check it out again online) and accepted lots of congratulatory anniversary greetings from our church friends.  Did some more running around trying to find a bike rack then wrapped up our day with a yummy early dinner at Red Lobster with a gift card mom and dad given us.  Pretty much collapsed in front of football when we got home while Tom loaded all the weekend's photos.  He's a great guy and I consider myself very, very lucky.  God blessed me big time in the marriage category!